Tag Archives: protein

Learn the three ways you can increase your metabolism and burn more calories.

Now that you’re older, does even looking at a bag of potato chips make you feel fat? Do you feel your energy and metabolism crawling to a stop? You’re not alone. A slower metabolism affects the majority of people with age. The good news is there are ways to manipulate metabolism to make it more efficient.

Metabolism is the rate at which food is converted to energy (calories) and used, aka burned, by the body. The human body is a complex machine with millions of processes going on at any given time. Each of these requires energy. The faster the body burns through energy, the less likely a person is to gain weight.

One thing to remember is that metabolism is actually the opposite of stagnant—it’s ever changing. Genetics play a part, but environmental factors also have a large influence. Most environmental factors are “short-term boosters”—meaning they increase your metabolism for a few hours. Certain foods and intense exercise are two examples of these. Conversely, by regularly choosing foods that increase metabolism, and working out at a high intensity, “short-term boosters” become “long-term boosters” and metabolism is continuously in high-gear.

Raising the Metabolism Bar

The biggest factor in increasing metabolism? Having more muscle. Since muscle is a metabolically active tissue, the more of it you have, the more energy it takes to maintain it, and the more calories you burn. You can think of muscle like a house constantly undergoing construction. Proteins within the muscle are continually being turned over and replaced. All of this uses energy and calories whether you’re in the gym or just sitting on the couch watching your favorite TV show.

Resistance training is key for achieving muscle gains, since this will increase the rate of muscle turn-over and rebuilding (1). If you’re not familiar with the techniques of weight training, it may be best to focus on large muscle groups—chest, back, shoulders, and legs—for maximum metabolism results. In the gym, that means doing exercises that will train these areas specifically, such as the chest press (chest), lat pull down (back), shoulder press (shoulder), and squats (legs).

Exercise Boost

Apart from resistance training building more muscle, how else can you boost muscle-building and metabolism in the gym? Think intensity. Most people understand that exercise burns calories, but when people associate exercise with fat loss, they generally think of calories they are using in the moment. But the difference between exercise improving your metabolism over the short term (during exercise) as opposed to the long-term is intensity.

Unfortunately, most people often fail to take exercise intensity into account. They go to the gym for an hour or more, participate in Zumba or other aerobic-style classes, or get on the treadmill for their 45 minutes, yet see little changes to their bodies because they’re not exercising hard enough. Exercise intensity not only determines the extent of muscle building and cardiovascular improvements, but it also determines how long and to what extent you’ll burn calories after you finish your workout (2).

The harder the activity, the faster and harder the heart beats to deliver oxygen and blood to muscle. When a person is exercising at 80 percent of their maximum capacity, they are exercising at “high intensity.” High-intensity exercise is shown clinically to raise metabolism, likely because it’s more difficult for the body to adapt to the exercise, so you end up burning the maximum amount of calories during and after your workout. If you haven’t already, you should incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIT) into your exercise regimen for metabolism-boosting effects that will last much longer than just during your workout.

Muscle-Building and Thermogenic Foods

The best way to support muscle-building for long-term increases in metabolism is to feed your body protein. And you need a high-quality protein such as whey that’s been shown to be more effective for muscle-building than other proteins (3). In fact, foods rich in whey protein have even shown in studies to boost metabolism longer in comparison to other types of protein-rich foods like those containing soy (4).

When foods such as protein boost metabolism they are considered to be thermogenic, which means they require a high amount of calories just to be digested. The more calories used in the digestion process, the less that can be used by the body or stored as fat, and metabolism will increase.

In the case of protein, it takes 20 to 30 calories out of every 100 calories you eat of it just to be used on digestion. In comparison, it takes 5 to 10 calories out of every 100 calories of carbohydrate you eat for digestion, and 0 to 3 calories for fat (5). Eating meals higher in protein, such as IsaLean Pro with 36 grams of protein, will increase metabolism within the few hours following consumption. Another nutrient that achieves this and is also in IsaLean Pro in a good amount is fiber, so be sure to choose fiber-rich foods whenever possible.

Its not just protein and fiber that have thermogenic properties, either. Green tea, black tea, and yerba mate all contain caffeine along with compounds called catechins that work to raise metabolism. e+ Natural Energy shot contains both green tea and yerba mate, supporting its ability to assist in weight management (6). Capsaicin, found in chili peppers and cayenne pepper, is another thermogenic compound, and is found along with green tea extract in another Isagenix product meant to support weight management, Natural Accelerator (7).

If trying to manage your weight and you feel like your metabolism is holding you back, know that conscious hard work can make a difference. Gaining more muscle with the right type of exercise and supporting that muscle with the right kind and amount of protein, along with choosing other thermogenic foods can rev metabolism back up to high-speed.

One of the great things about Isagenix is the variety of nutritional products they offer. The IsaLean, IsaLean Pro, and IsaPro shakes are high in the highest-quality whey protein and provide options that make living a healthy lifestyle delicious and easy. While it’s nice to have choices, making the right selection for your needs can sometimes be confusing. To clarify the differences between the shakes and the best time to use each, it’s helpful to know how they came to be.

A brief history of the Isagenix Shakes

The IsaLean Shake was launched in 2002 and is the original Isagenix meal replacement, containing just 240 calories and a healthy balance of 24 grams of high-quality protein, 24 grams of low-glycemic carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of healthy fat. The majority of protein in the IsaLean Shake comes from undenatured whey, the form of protein optimal for torching fat and building lean muscle (1;2).

In response to accumulating evidence supporting the ability of whey protein to increase fat loss and prevent age-related muscle decline, IsaPro was launched. Unlike the IsaLean Shake, which is a complete meal replacement, IsaPro is a protein supplement with one scoop containing 18 grams of pure undenatured whey protein concentrate and being virtually free of carbohydrates and fat. To create a meal replacement even higher in whey protein, Isagenix users began adding one scoop of IsaPro to one and a half scoops of IsaLean Shake. And that’s how the IsaLean Pro Shake was born.

The IsaLean and IsaLean Pro Shakes are ideal meal replacements because they contain the right type and amount of protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals to promote healthy weight management and muscle maintenance, curb hunger, and provide long-lasting energy. Although undenatured whey is the main type of protein in the shakes, they also each contain undenatured milk protein concentrate, which together form a winning combination for eliciting weight loss and preserving muscle. Whey is the superior form of protein for burning fat (1) and triggering muscle growth (2), but the milk protein concentrate (made up mainly of casein) is more slowly absorbed from the stomach, providing a sustained release of protein to inhibit muscle breakdown and help a person stay full longer (3).

Maximizing satiety and preventing muscle breakdown over an extended period is a key function of a meal replacement, since time between meals can often exceed four hours. The combination of dairy proteins in the IsaLean and IsaLean Pro Shakes does exactly that, with satiety and prevention of energy crashes being further promoted by the low-glycemic carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber, and healthy fats from sources such as flaxseed and olive oil that are included in both shakes.

So how do you decide which shake to use as your meal replacement? The answer to this depends partially on taste preference and personal goals. Both shakes will provide quality protein and prolong feelings of hunger. But IsaLean Pro is a more specialized meal replacement option for those interested in reaping the benefits offered by additional dietary protein. Diets higher in protein are particularly beneficial for athletes interested in maximizing muscle, older individuals wanting to preserve or build muscle, and those looking for extra assistance in curbing hunger and breaking through weight loss plateaus.

How and when to use IsaPro alone—or with fruit

IsaPro can be added to anything, allowing users to benefit from the fat burning and muscle building powers of quality whey protein. The product was originally designed as a supplement to the IsaLean Shake and was not initially intended to be a stand-alone product. However, science evolves, and so does creating and recommending products based on available evidence. As the science of sports nutrition has advanced, consistently showing the benefits of consuming pure whey protein directly after exercise, the potential of IsaPro to serve as a stand alone post-workout product became obvious.

Not only can IsaPro be added anywhere in the diet to boost daily protein intake (even right before bed to work as a Bedtime Belly Buster), but it really is the perfect post-workout shake. After exercise, you want to get the right kind of protein, in the right amount, into your body as fast as possible. For a short period of time after a workout the body is unusually sensitive to nutrients—muscle is hungry for protein that will stimulate its growth and repair. The whey protein in IsaPro is the best form for triggering muscle growth because it’s high in branched-chain amino acids such as leucine, and is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream for delivery to muscle (4).

In addition, IsaPro has no fat or fiber to compete with and slow down protein absorption. When a source of carbohydrates such as fruit—like a banana or strawberries—or orange juice, or Ionix Supreme, is added to IsaPro, the whey protein stimulates rapid and efficient replacement of the stored carbohydrates (glycogen) depleted during exercise (2).

Whatever your goals are, Isagenix has the right type of proteins and the right type of meal replacements for you to choose from to achieve those goals. And now, with the dairy-free Natural Berry Harvest IsaLean Shake, even more people can reap the benefits that Isagenix meal replacements and proteins provide. It’s just up to you to make that health-benefiting choice.

This Web site is owned and operated by an Isagenix Independent Associate and is not endorsed by Isagenix
International, LLC. Any opinions expressed on this Web site are made by and the responsibility of the
individual Associate and should not be construed as a representation of the opinions of Isagenix International,
LLC.”